SocialTech 2010 wrapped up yesterday. Here are four quick takeaways from the one-day event, which brought 221 B2B high-tech marketers to San Jose, Calif. (and another 467 attended virtually, online) to learn social media marketing tips, tactics and strategy specific to the business-to-business marketer.

1. B2B social media is like sex in high school: Everyone claims they are doing it, but very few are.

(And most of those who are doing it... aren't doing it particularly well.)

B2B marketers are embracing social tools as a way to connect with customers and grow their businesses. Most attendees have some kind of social presence or say they imminently plan to. Most have attempted a blog or Facebook page or have peeked at Twitter. When Guy Kawasaki asked at his closing keynote, “How many people think Twitter is stupid?”—only two brave souls raised their hands high.

Nonetheless, most B2B marketers have yet to truly embrace the full social tool set for their business, and sometimes for themselves. Only a handful of attendees checked into the event on Foursquare, for example, which I thought was surprising for an event in the heart of Silicon Valley. One attendee I met summed it up nicely. “We have a blog, but it sucks,” she said. “We’re here to learn how to change that."

In other words: B2B marketers + social = lots of room for improvement. But just like post-high school, there’s every reason to anticipate a more satisfying relationship down the road.

See the rest of Ann's post on the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog.


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The State of the B2B Marketer in Social Media: 3 Trends From SocialTech 2010

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Ann Handley

Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author who recently published Everybody Writes 2. She speaks worldwide about how businesses can escape marketing mediocrity to ignite tangible results. IBM named her one of the 7 people shaping modern marketing. Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a LinkedIn Influencer, a keynote speaker, mom, dog person, and writer.